I send a semi-daily email delivering insights into leadership in exponential times. For entrepreneurs, corporate irritants and change makers. Raw, unfiltered and opinionated. It is called The Heretic and here is the dispatch from 2014-12-04:

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ALWAYS RUN. NEVER WALK.

As you might have seen by now, I sign this newsletter with a phrase I coined a little while ago: “Always Run. Never Walk.” Our Facebook Group’s motto is the latin version of this phrase: “Semper Curre, Nunquam Ambula.”

Over the years a bunch of you have asked what I mean by this signature — and commented on how it is not sustainable to “always run” without taking a break.

Here’s the story: As some of you know I used to be a pretty fanatical runner — racing anything from half-marathons to ultras; often running more than 100 miles per week in training. A while ago, the author Haruki Murakami wrote a book about his life as a runner (What I Talk About When I Talk About Running); in my eyes one of the best books ever written about running. The book is full of amazing quotes which are incredibly fitting for entrepreneurs (and life in general). The one which stood out to me and which I have quoted untold times in public speeches as well as in individual conversations is:

“Reaching the finish line, never walking, enjoying the race. These three, in this order, are my goals.”